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Canadian Regulator CRTC Saves Independent ISPs
fmenard123 writes "The Canadian telecommunications regulator, the CRTC, has affirmed in a decision released on March 3rd 2008 that DSL wholesale and Cable Modem wholesale will continue (PDF) until such time as a meaningful competitive source of supply of wholesale facilities develops. Aside from preserving the status-quo, the CRTC has also determined that unaggregated ADSL access (DSL wholesale for competitors who self-supply their facilities into telephone company central offices) is an essential service given the lack of unbundling for sub-loops. The CRTC ordered phone companies to re-price unaggregated DSL wholesale at forward-looking costs plus a mark-up of no more than 15%, opening the door for a significant reduction in the rates ISPs pay to the telephone companies for access to DSL wholesale. This decision has interesting implications for the US, in which the FCC was not able to overcome the legal attacks against its Computer II regulatory framework. Perhaps ISPs in the US need to look north to try to make their case again."
Government-sponsored monopoly telcos are forced to supply infrastructure access to other companies. They're allowed to make a 15% profit on the line.
This has resulted in cheaper long distance rates, cheaper (and better) Internet access, better hardware, etc.
In the old days, Bell told you to like your Bakelite rotary phone, and that nothing else was economically or technically feasible... and keep paying your monthly rental, since you can't purchase a phone.
Because the telcos were forced to give access to the lines, we now own the phone lines inside our homes, and have fully electronic phones we OWN. We can have Internet access that isn't filtered by Bell, or passed through their misconfigured HTTP proxies. Oh, and the rates for everything are lower after adjustments for inflation.
I'm currently in the position of having to switch from DSL to cable because of the shitty quality of the lines in this building (and since I'm in an apartment, I really can't do much about that) and the distance to the CO. Now, from my research, here in London, Ontario, we have two choices for cable internet: Rogers, and 3web. 3web has gotten some really bad reviews, and my research shows they're simply reselling Rogers service through a deal they have with them.
Now, if the CRTC really wanted to impress me, they would force Rogers to open their lines for cable internet. As it stands right now, AFAIK, we only have truly open wholesale for DSL access, and for those of us that can't get it at a reliable quality, it kinda sucks because our only real choice is the cable monopoly in the area, in this case Rogers.
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
Have you taken a look at TekSavvy? They're really cheap, good quality, high speed 5M DSL, with excellent customer service (almost every time I've called in, I've gotten an agent right away without any hold time). As I've mentioned below, I'm in the position of having to switch away from them for reasons beyond their or my control, but if you can get Bell at good quality where you are, I'd suggest taking a look.
No, I don't work for them or receive anything for this.
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
Mostly during the Superbowl, where we get [Global / CTV / whoever's] normal commercials instead of the ones that are actually, y'know, interesting.
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
See http://www.dslreports.com/forum/sympat and search for throttling
It began in the last couple of months, so ignore threads older than say November 2007 or so.
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19634497-Non-P2P-SSL-Protocols-now-being-throttled
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19856107-ThrottlingShaping-Supposedly-Non-Existant-On-Bells-Network
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19691840-Traffic-shaping-timeline-graph
Although they have to provide access to their infrastructure, Sympatico, Telus etc. are still the reseller of bandwidth to the small ISP. In my view, this is still anti-competitive in that the independent ISP continues to get raped by being forced to pay for bandwidth to the upstream big telco. The telco is essentially getting the bandwidth for free, while collecting revenue from the small ISP for the same commodity. It doesn't seem fair that the telco can be a wholesale bandwidth seller and at the same time compete directly with its wholesale customers by targeting last mile consumers.
If the CRTC really wanted to level the playing field, they would prevent the wholesalers like Bell Sympatico from selling directly to the consumer market. Then we'd see real competition and growth in the ISP industry.
Basically, since Bell owns all the phone lines in Canada,
Maybe in your part of Canada, but not west of Ontario.
MTS/Allstream owns the last mile copper in Manitoba
Sasktel owns the last mile copper in Saskatchewan
Telus owns the last mile copper in Alberta and BC
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"I can't complain, but sometimes still do..." Joe Walsh